Canucks earn tie with Kings
Canadian Press
10/20/2002
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Derek Armstrong paid quick dividends to the Los Angeles Kings.
Armstrong arrived in Los Angeles late Friday night after being recalled from the American Hockey League, then he scored the go-ahead goal 5:57 into the third period Saturday night of a 2-2 tie with the Vancouver Canucks.
``It's nice to see Derek get rewarded there,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``It's a big goal for him.''
Armstrong directed Andreas Lilja's pass from the left circle past Canucks goalie Peter Skudra for his first goal of the season and 10th in 87 NHL games.
``Eric (Rasmussen) made a great play circling around the net, and I just tired to get to the net,'' Armstrong said. ``Andreas found my stick with the puck. My son could have scored it.''
Vancouver's Markus Naslund scored the tying goal at 10:31 of the third period, firing a shot from between the circles past the left leg of goalie Felix Potvin for his second goal of the season.
``It was great to see Markus Naslund score,'' Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. ``He has been getting so many chances in the last couple of games. We knew it was only a matter of time.''
Neither team took a shot in the overtime.
``It was a very tight-checking game both ways,'' Murray said. ``Both teams' penalty killing did an outstanding job. I thought it was a gritty battle. There wasn't a lot of space for either team to operate in.''
The tie was Vancouver's second in two days.
``We battled tonight,'' said Crawford, whose team tied Anaheim on Friday night. ``Again we were resilient when we went down. I thought the guys responded well.''
Los Angeles scored on both its third-period shots. Defenceman Mathieu Schneider tied it 1-1 just 41 seconds into the third period, putting a shot in from the right circle. Alexander Frolov, who sent the puck from the boards back to Schneider, was credited with his first NHL assist.
Canucks left-winger Todd Warriner opened the scoring 13:38 into the second period. He took a pass from Todd Bertuzzi, who had just come out of the penalty box, skated across the blue-line and beat Potvin for his second goal of the season.
The tie extended Los Angeles' home unbeaten streak against Vancouver to 14 games, which began on Jan. 7, 1997. In that span, the Kings outscored the Canucks 52-22. Vancouver's last win in Los Angeles was April 6, 1996, at the Forum.
Potvin finished with 17 saves, while Skudra made 14.
Notes: Armstrong was recalled after right-winger Ziggy Palffy was placed on the injured list, retroactive to Sunday. Palffy missed the previous two games because of a left groin strain sustained Oct. 12 game against Detroit. ... Skudra made his first appearance of the season after Dan Cloutier had played in the season's first five games, including Friday night's tie at Anaheim. ... The Canucks killed all six of the Kings' power-plays and 30 of 31 this season. ... Los Angeles wore its purple third jerseys for the first time this season. ... The Kings play 13 of their next 15 on the road.
Cheers,
Aquaman